Fed will play Roland Garros this year.

MasturB

Legend
Novak is back in top form. Will be a big favorite for Indian Wells and Miami.

Del Po should be recovered back for spring.

The next gen looks like they're actually arriving. Zverev and Tsitsipas will be threats in the sunshine slam.

Fed just lost over 1500 pts and his ranking is going to drop. And he has 500 pts to defend in Rotterdam. I think he probably will play Dubai now.

He is going to play some clay to try and get that top 4 seeding at Wimbledon this year.
 

MasturB

Legend
I doubt it. He's going all in on Wimbledon again this year.

Going to be hard to win Wimbledon if he's ranked outside the top 10.

He has 1100 points to defend at Indian Wells (Final) and Rotterdam (Champ). Also defending Stuttgart 250 and Halle Final.
 
D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
Novak is back in top form. Will be a big favorite for Indian Wells and Miami.

Del Po should be recovered back for spring.

The next gen looks like they're actually arriving. Zverev and Tsitsipas will be threats in the sunshine slam.

Fed just lost over 1500 pts and his ranking is going to drop. And he has 500 pts to defend in Rotterdam. I think he probably will play Dubai now.

He is going to play some clay to try and get that top 4 seeding at Wimbledon this year.
Good call. Totally agree, ranking is essential for him. He can’t drop below 4. Zverev is probably 3 by the end of AO so pressure on Fed to get as many points as he can.

That luxury he had of skipping tournaments went out the window once Djokovic came back last year.
 
Good call. Totally agree, ranking is essential for him. He can’t drop below 4. Zverev is probably 3 by the end of AO so pressure on Fed to get as many points as he can.

That luxury he had of skipping tournaments went out the window once Djokovic came back last year.

To what end?

He isnt getting passed the round of 16 right now in these events

He is good enough to stay in the top 16 by barely playing and then you let the cards fall where they may at Wimbledon

Who knows being a 16th seed might work out better this year after spinning the roulette wheel
 

Badabing888

Hall of Fame
We will see. I still remember what his fitness Guru Pierre Paganini said about Roger’s knee and the risk of playing on clay post 2016 op on the knee. That will ultimately the deciding factor, not points to make up that he’s dropped/will probably drop at Rotterdam and IW.

Murray’s plight has reminded everyone that this career is finite and no point Roger training for an event to injure his knee again for points. It is not about that between now and whenever he retires.
 

MasturB

Legend
To what end?

He isnt getting passed the round of 16 right now in these events

He is good enough to stay in the top 16 by barely playing and then you let the cards fall where they may at Wimbledon

Who knows being a 16th seed might work out better this year after spinning the roulette wheel

Relax.

He made semis at London, Shanghai, and Bercy.

Somehow made a final in Cincinnati despite playing pedestrian tennis.
 

MasturB

Legend
We will see. I still remember what his fitness Guru Pierre Paganini said about Roger’s knee and the risk of playing on clay. That will ultimately the deciding factor, not points to make up that he dropped.

Murray’s plight has reminded everyone that this career is finite and no point Roger training for an event to injure his knee again for points. It is not about that between now and whenever he retires.

Easier to not play clay when he had the points he was racking up from January to April.
 

MasturB

Legend
He had already confirmed he would play Dubai. For Roland Garros I agree with you.

Did he confirm if he's going back to Rotterdam? Wonder if Krajicek running his mouth will affect it. Don't see him playing both Rotterdam and Dubai.
 
D

Deleted member 742196

Guest
Easier to not play clay when he had the points he was racking up from January to April.
Also easier when it was just Nadal. Didn’t matter whether 1 or 2. With Djokovic back to form the dynamics change. Add to that young gens are maturing by the tournament.
 

MasturB

Legend
Big call for Roger so early on in the year - if this Carole Bouchard is indeed correct. Looks like he really just wants points to keep himself near the top and in contention at the other Slams.

It has always been about points. There's a contingent of Fed fans here who genuinely believe everything his camp says about not playing clay.

The truth is, at this age it's always been a points game for Wimby.
 

MasturB

Legend
How is fed FH barely clearing service line has something to do with stefanos?????

Stefanos shots are very heavy in addition to getting great depth. It's not like del po hitting flat forehands on everything. Fed is playing on top of the baseline and it's extemely hard to absorb that pace and get it deep over and over and over. Stefanos maintained a high level of consistency from the baseline all day and the last set you could see Fed was playing safer and safer going closer to middle of court because of Stefanos' offensive defense.
 

Otacon

Hall of Fame
Stefanos shots are very heavy in addition to getting great depth. It's not like del po hitting flat forehands on everything. Fed is playing on top of the baseline and it's extemely hard to absorb that pace and get it deep over and over and over. Stefanos maintained a high level of consistency from the baseline all day and the last set you could see Fed was playing safer and safer going closer to middle of court because of Stefanos' offensive defense.
Stefanos shots are very heavy in addition to getting great depth. It's not like del po hitting flat forehands on everything. Fed is playing on top of the baseline and it's extemely hard to absorb that pace and get it deep over and over and over. Stefanos maintained a high level of consistency from the baseline all day and the last set you could see Fed was playing safer and safer going closer to middle of court because of Stefanos' offensive defense.
Fed made tons of UEs on short balls.
 

MasturB

Legend
Also easier when it was just Nadal. Didn’t matter whether 1 or 2. With Djokovic back to form the dynamics change. Add to that young gens are maturing by the tournament.

Yep.

It's strangely a good time for tennis.

Nishikori is playing well again. All of the sudden Raonic has creeped back up the rankings. Wawa is healthy again. Dimitrov has been playing better tennis.

Then you have Kachanov, Medvedev, Zverev, Stefanos, Tiafoe actually making good runs. In addition to Novak being back.

We still don't know what's up with Rafa yet.
 
It has always been about points. There's a contingent of Fed fans here who genuinely believe everything his camp says about not playing clay.

The truth is, at this age it's always been a points game for Wimby.

I dont believe it had anything to do with injury or schedule

I think its simple. He doesnt enjoy the surface. He doesnt think he can win titles on it. It gives you a couple months to vacation.

If he is pushing clay now its not a positive sign for his playing longer than perhaps next years Aussie
 

MasturB

Legend
Fed made tons of UEs on short balls.

Rhythm. Stefanos never let him get into a consistent rhythm. To be on the defensive for so long then get a short ball it's a 180 and tons of players make those mistakes.

Even when Fed was playing good offense, Stefanos defense was forcing him to play extra shots. When Fed has to keep going for drop shots over and over and it's due more to try and win points instead of stylin playing free then it's not good.
 

BGod

G.O.A.T.
I agree. He shouldn't play Dubai though because of Novak. Defend Rotterdam then IW. Play Rome and the French, absolutely skip Stuttgart and just do Halle-Wimbledon. Then play Cincy-USO although I think he should skip USO at this point so he can compete at Shanghai then Basel and WTF.
 

MasturB

Legend
I dont believe it had anything to do with injury or schedule

I think its simple. He doesnt enjoy the surface. He doesnt think he can win titles on it. It gives you a couple months to vacation.

If he is pushing clay now its not a positive sign for his playing longer than perhaps next years Aussie

It's not about winning titles. It's about points. Making the second week of Roland Garros easily gets him more points than winning a 250 or 500. And in those small tourneys he's playing matches 3-4 days in a row.
 

Otacon

Hall of Fame
Rhythm. Stefanos never let him get into a consistent rhythm. To be on the defensive for so long then get a short ball it's a 180 and tons of players make those mistakes.

Even when Fed was playing good offense, Stefanos defense was forcing him to play extra shots. When Fed has to keep going for drop shots over and over and it's due more to try and win points instead of stylin playing free then it's not good.
I agree that Stefano's play was annoying, but we're talking about Fed here, and he was miles away from his brilliant best.
 

MasturB

Legend
I doubt it. Many times in the rallies there were opportunities ( especially DTL) but he was mishitting it or playing Safe cross court (awkward at times).

But u are a professional coach:unsure:...that reminds me, what happened to the Young prodigy u had? Is he on the right track?

Yep. Had a small setback with a freak injury off the tennis court last month. So just extended our offseason by a month.

Stefanos' backhand is one of the heaviest shots on tour. He has a very high spin rate for it. And the reason Fed went cross court a lot is because it's harder to take it up the line when it's that heavy.
 
It's not about winning titles. It's about points. Making the second week of Roland Garros easily gets him more points than winning a 250 or 500. And in those small tourneys he's playing matches 3-4 days in a row.

Yeah but the points would be for like right now right now

Meaning its a short term plan for the last two majors of the year

Is he really going to be grinding out hopefully 3rd-QF results forever now just to stay high?

I think he could stay in the top 20 for the next 5 years at full schedule but what is the end goal with that without titles
 

MasturB

Legend
I agree that Stefano's play was annoying, but we're talking about Fed here, and he was miles away from his brilliant best.

But, that's because his opponent wasn't allowing him to be his brilliant best.

Did anyone forget the first 2 sets Fed was still holding comfortably while Stefanos was going to deuce 5 on his service games?

Fed wasn't playing his best, but he still accumulated 12 break point chances. But again, not enough credit is given to Stefanos for the clutch serving under pressure and how many unreturned serves and aces he got off Fed's racquet. The guy was serving HUGE.

Stefanos was doing the classic Fed 1-2 off the serve. Get a mid to short ball off the return and hammer the forehand. Even when fed was going with slice chip return short, Stefanos was handling it 50% of the time
 

Otacon

Hall of Fame
But, that's because his opponent wasn't allowing him to be his brilliant best.

Did anyone forget the first 2 sets Fed was still holding comfortably while Stefanos was going to deuce 5 on his service games?

Fed wasn't playing his best, but he still accumulated 12 break point chances. But again, not enough credit is given to Stefanos for the clutch serving under pressure and how many unreturned serves and aces he got off Fed's racquet. The guy was serving HUGE.

Stefanos was doing the classic Fed 1-2 off the serve. Get a mid to short ball off the return and hammer the forehand. Even when fed was going with slice chip return short, Stefanos was handling it 50% of the time
He was serving lights out and volleying well. That's about it. Everything else was subpar.
 

MasturB

Legend
Stefanos went to the net more than Roger did. When does someone ever go to the net more than Roger in a match?

If people cant understand why that forced Federer out of his comfort zone and forced Fed to produce a lot of safe shots and unforced errors they don't understand tennis. Not only was Stefanos holding his own at baseline he was controlling a lot of the rallies and forced fed to hit several extra shots.
 

BGod

G.O.A.T.
Yeah but the points would be for like right now right now

Meaning its a short term plan for the last two majors of the year

Is he really going to be grinding out hopefully 3rd-QF results forever now just to stay high?

I think he could stay in the top 20 for the next 5 years at full schedule but what is the end goal with that without titles

I've been saying he should skip USO. He Can't win it and it hinders his Fall Schedule.

I think he's playing clay this year because he knows there 0 chance next year with Olympics and Tokyo 500. And yeah probably it for him.

He's just good on his promises and has said he'd come back to Paris for the French.
 

MasturB

Legend
He was serving lights out and volleying well. That's about it. Everything else was subpar.
You are simply nitpicking.

If you analyze the overall tactical cat and mouse game of this match, you would be giving a lot more credit to Stefanos than saying Roger was trash on everything else.
 
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